Shatterpoint
by Blatant0
Summary: A Jedi receives a vision that could change the course of the war - but will she survive to tell anyone? OC


Hannah crept through the gloomy cave, her blue lightsaber ignited and serving as a torch. She could hear the armoured footsteps of her squad of clone troopers questing through the blackness behind her. To her left came a green luminescence from the lightsaber of her fellow Jedi Thul. The glowing swords of light made shadows dance and skip across the walls of the cavern. At last they came to the mouth of a tunnel. Hannah turned to address her squad.

"This tunnel leads to an exit directly behind Separatist lines. We will take it and surprise the droid force on the other side of this cave network and after that Master Koth's forces and ours will form a pincer movement to crush the remaining droids."

"Be alert at all times and beware of cave-ins." said Thul. "Only discharge your weapons if faced with no other choice. Much knowledge of Korriban's caves has been lost to the Order." He gave a mock bow. "After you."

Hannah smiled and entered the tunnel. It was darker than the cave had been and even her lightsaber provided little clarity of vision. Something teased the perimeter of Hannah's senses, something that gave her a sense of impending danger. She tightened her grip on the handle of her laser sword and edged forward. The darkness seemed to deepen and fill her senses and she was…

…standing in a street, on the planet of Taris. A hysterical woman was being restrained by a man - her husband - and a Twilek dressed in the robes of a Jedi was holding his hands out. A tiny child, her brunette hair cascading over her shoulders and down her back stood next to the Twilek Jedi and Hannah realised she was witnessing her past. This was when she had been given to the Jedi Order by her parents. Her father struggled to control her distraught mother as she clutched at the air, begging the Jedi not to take her only child. Hannah tried to shout to her mother, to tell her that everything was all right but the darkness closed over her again and she was…

…standing in a cave, breathing deeply. Hannah heard footsteps behind her and then Thul's voice came out of the dark.

"What's wrong Hannah?"

"It's nothing." Hannah gulped. "Let's continue with our mission."

Down through the winding, twisting tunnels they went. Hannah stretched out with the Force and found three life forms in a cave ahead of them.

"Hssiss."

Thul paused. "There's not enough room for the clones to engage the Hssiss. You and I will have to fight them."

Hannah nodded.. She edged forward into the large cavern where three giant reptiles lounged in semi-torpor. At her approach, the nearest gave a hissing screech and charged her. Hannah reached out with the Force, trying to see the beast's feelings, to make a cage around it with her mind. The Hssiss lumbered towards her and at the last moment stopped short. Hannah breathed an inward sigh of relief. The sound of a lightsaber ignited exploded behind her and there was a cry. Thul leapt into her vision, driving his green lightsaber through the Hssiss's head. The two other creatures crawled towards them, giant maws open, tails flicking. Thul gave a shout and launched himself into battle, lightsaber swinging wildly. Hannah growled in frustration and joined the fray. The second Hssiss snapped its jaws aggressively at her but Hannah somersaulted over it with the Force and severed its tail. Groaning in pain, the dragon stomped away into another part of the cave. Thul gave chase but was stopped by Hannah.

"What were you thinking? I had everything under control!"

"The Hssiss are of the dark side. Their presence is an abomination!"

"You didn't have to kill them!" Hannah took a step back and composed herself. There is no emotion, there is peace. The clones filled the cave, the lights on their rifles zigzagging across the walls.

"Our mission is of the utmost importance. I couldn't waste time…"

"Sir." One of the clones addressed Thul. "We need your help."

A clone trooper had dropped his weapon and was clutching at his head. He took drunken, loping steps and shrieked when he saw Hannah.

"The shatter point! The shatter point!" The clone pulled off his helmet. Giant staring eyes rolled in fear and madness.

"Of course." Hannah spoke half to herself. "This is the cave of visions." She addressed the clones and Thul. "He must have been driven mad by the illusions this cave generates."

"Are we safe here?" Thul moved closer to Hannah. "What if the other clones are so affected? We need to be at full strength to engage the Separatists."

"You take the other clones through the rest of the cave." said Hannah. "I'll stay and look after this one."

"But both of us need to…"

"The purpose of a Jedi's life is to help others. Go now."

Thul stared at her for a long moment and then he turned away, giving orders to the clones. One by one they moved into another part of the cave and Hannah was left alone.

"Shatter point…shatter point." The clone had curled into a foetal position. Hannah rested her hand on his head.

"I'm going to try something. Jedi use this technique for seeing into the minds of other living beings."

The clone jerked upright. Hannah put her hands on either side of his head.

"Ssshhh…let me help you…let me into your thoughts…"

Hannah closed her eyes and concentrated, reaching out with her senses into the clone's torn mind. A whirlwind of images assaulted her; she saw war and death and battle; millions upon millions of white-armoured men crawling across planets like ants. She saw droids and druidical, ships blotting out the skies of a hundred worlds. Then it came to her. She saw Master Windu with three other Jedi march into the Supreme Chancellor's office. To her utter shock she saw the Chancellor draw a red bladed lightsaber and cut down three of her sibling Jedi like a scythe cutting grass. She saw a battle between Master Windu and the Chancellor - the hidden Sith Lord. Lightsabers whirled and flashed, ground was gained and lost, the Chancellor was disarmed and at Master Windu's mercy. Hannah found that she could not pull back. The images assailed her mind without relent. Now General Skywalker stood before Master Windu and the Sith unleashed a torrent of lightning which scarred his face and Master Windu raised his lightsaber for a killing stroke but a blue beam intercepted him and then he was falling, falling to his death. General Skywalker, one of the bravest and strongest warriors of the Order, knelt before the Sith. The Sith gave an order through a communicator and Jedi were cut down across the galaxy. Two blue blades dizzied and clashed, the hero of the Jedi Order was mutilated and reborn as a half machine, the eyes of his helmet looking directly into Hannah's. Hannah gave a lung-racking gasp as the vision ended. She was back in the cave on Korriban. The clone trooper was twisting his fingers. She had to warn them. She had to warn Master Windu. She had to warn General Skywalker.

""Shatter point…" murmured the clone.

Oh Force he means me, thought Hannah. I'm the shatter point. She ignited her lightsaber and got up, keeping her weapon between herself and the clone. The clone sat on the ground, cross-legged, rocking backwards and forwards. Darkness closed over her again and she was…

…standing in a cave where the walls were made of reflective crystal. Clumps of smaller crystals stuck out from the walls. Was this another illusion? Hannah put out a hand and felt the rough wetness of the cave walls. They felt real enough. She tried to feel her surroundings through the Force but she found that the Force had deserted her. A pinprick of panic spiked in Hannah's stomach and she gripped her lightsaber tighter. Slowly, she began to move through the cave. As Hannah walked, she found that she could not help but look into the many mirrors created by the cave's reflective walls. Each reflection of herself seemed to be ever-so-slightly out of sync with her real self. As she moved through the cave, Hannah saw herself in splendid robes before the assembled Jedi Order, Master Yoda passing the title of Grand Master to her. Another mirror showed her with longer hair, belly swollen with child and Thul beside her, comforting her. Hannah walked. A reflective surface showed her with sickly pale skin, seated on a throne of carved obsidian being hailed by figures in black cowls. At length, the cave ended and Hannah found herself standing in front of a full length mirror attached to the wall of the cave. In the mirror she saw herself; short brown hair, tan cloak, white robes. As Hannah watched the other her smiled. It was the smile that Hannah saw in mirrors when she looked but it was cruel and filled with malice. The her that was not her raised a hand. Hannah realised with a jolt that her own hand was motionless at her side. The other her put her hand to the surface of the mirror and pushed, breaking through the surface as if it were water. The other her stepped through the mirror. She ignited a red bladed lightsaber. Hannah activated her own lightsaber and drew back into a defensive stance. The other her attacked and attacked; cutting, slicing, hacking, chopping the air with her blood coloured blade. Hannah was driven back through the caves, the reflections in the walls showing slight variations on the real duel. Hannah tried to call the Force to her aid, but it would not come. Would she die here, defeated by her own self?

No.

The word seemed to give her extra strength and Hannah fought back against the other her, matching her dark intensity with a speed and a deftness born of the most basic instinct; to stay alive. The air hissed and moaned with the sound of lightsaber against lightsaber. At long last, the other her made a mistake and Hannah drove her blue blade straight through her doppelganger's chest. The other her gasped and faded from sight. Hannah found that she was back in the cave with the mad clone who was gripping his weapon and darting glances at the walls. Hannah took out her data pad and made a fresh entry. It went as follows:

Master Windu

Whilst traversing the caves on Korriban with Knight Dandra and company C of the thirty-second clone battalion I received a vision warning me that Chancellor Palpatine is the hidden Sith Lord that we have been searching for and that he will corrupt General Skywalker to his cause. This is very important. DO NOT allow General Skywalker to be present when you confront the Chancellor. DO NOT allow the Chancellor to survive. I realise that what I have written violates the Jedi Code but it is the only way to preserve the Republic. May the Force be with you.

Hannah stowed the data pad in her robes and went over to the mad clone. She eased him towards the exit to the cave and they travelled, gently and haltingly, through the cave network. At last they saw a circle of daylight at the end of one of the tunnels. Hannah ignited her lightsaber and went first. She emerged into the fray of a battle between Republic and Separatist forces. Clones and droids alike fought and fell. Laser bolts sliced through the air. Hannah raised her lightsaber high.

"For the…"

Hannah stopped. Her lightsaber fell from her grasp. She sank to her knees, her head bowed. Behind her the mad clone held his gun in an offensive attitude. Hannah could smell her own charred flesh where he had shot her. From out of the melee came Thul, his green lightsaber raised to deflect blaster bolts. He knelt down at her side.

"Hannah! I've got you. Don't die. You can't die."

Hannah's trembling fingers removed a data pad from her robes. She pushed it towards Thul and then she was no more.

"Hannah…"

Tears ran down Thul's face as he held Hannah's lifeless body. An explosion behind him brought Thul to his feet and then he rejoined the battle. The data pad that Hannah had given Thul lay dormant on the ground until it was smashed by a clone trooper's boot.


End file.
